Michael Wong

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been called on to investigate the search marketing sector after a second major player doubled the minimum price of buying a keyword on its network. When Overture raised its minimum bid price from 5p to 10p in February, rival Espotting said it wouldn't follow suit. But Espotting also raised its minimum bid price to 10p this week. Now there have been complaints to the Government that Overture and Espotting are abusing their dominant positions. Lopa Patel, editor at Asian lifestyle portal Redhotcurry, complained to the OFT after Overture raised its price, but it said it could see no grounds to proceed. Overture had competitors well-placed to benefit from any excessive price rise, the OFT said, both in search marketing and in digital marketing generally. Now Patel is making a fresh complaint, arguing that search marketing is a distinct sector of activity. Both Overture and Espotting dismissed the claim that they were acting uncompetitively. Market watchers had been expecting Espotting's move. With a 5p minimum bid price, it left itself vulnerable to Overture telling its distribution partners that it gave better revenue share.

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